unwind
by lmacy
Summary: How Elizabeth and Henry unwind each night. Set after Connection Lost in season two.


Unwind

"That doesn't go there." Elizabeth declared before she popped another bite of ice cream in her mouth. Henry's hand froze as he glared up at her from the ground.

"Well why don't you get your butt down here and help me, miss smarty pants." Henry suggested. Elizabeth was standing close enough that he was able to finish the sentence with a playful tug on the bottom of her pant leg. She laughed.

"I'm eating my ice cream." His wife defended, holding up the carton to prove her point. "You can multitask; women are known for it." He joked.

"Why Dr. McCord, are you mocking me?" She teased, stepping out of her heels and kicking them towards the couch.

"Never." Henry answered. "Now if you're going to let me do all the hard work, I'm going to take all the credit when it's finished." He declared.

"Oh please… You've barely made any progress tonight." Elizabeth replied, roaming her eyes over the five thousand piece puzzle covering the floor of their living room.

"Hey now. I've put three pieces in." he told her. Elizabeth put a hand to her chest, and said, "Wow." She worked to keep a serious face, but broke out in a fit of laughter.

"You can make fun, but now we're three pieces closer to being finished." Henry proudly said as Elizabeth slowly dropped to the floor, kneeling beside her husband.

"Oh I love you." She told him while still giggling. He eyed her as she took another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She looked up from the carton and instantly noticed the goofy grin on his face. "What?" She questioned, setting the ice cream container on the ground.

"You're gorgeous." He said in the husky voice that she absolutely adored. Before she knew it Henry was quickly but gently lowering her back against the floor. He hovered above her for a moment, mesmerized by her blue irises. "Henry." She breathed, begging for his touch. He leaned closer, nose brushing hers. Elizabeth's eyes fell shut as his lips brushed hers. He kissed her softly yet passionately. The heat rose in her cheeks as his tongue delved into her mouth tangling with hers. They broke apart, both left breathless.

"You taste like pistachio." He said, smiling down at her. She chuckled. "Did you want some?" She asked, eyeing the carton.

"No, but I do want something." Henry said suggestively before letting their mouths meet again. "Let's go upstairs." He muttered between kisses.

"We can't." Elizabeth replied sadly. Henry pulled back a bit, and questioned, "why?"

"We still have…" She began, flipping her wrist up to check the time. "Forty minutes left for puzzle." She finished.

He internally groaned. "We can break the rules just this once." He said before sucking the skin that connected her neck and shoulder.

"Henry I'm serious." Elizabeth said sternly, pushing him off of her. "I want to follow this… After I promise." She told him as she fully sat up. "I'm sorry." She apologized, seeing the look on his face.

He connected eyes with her hearing her unnecessary apology. "No, you're right. This is something we need to stick to. It's important."

She smiled shyly. "Ice cream?" She asked after she picked up the container. He shook his head no. "It's all yours babe."

"I was hoping for that answer." She said, bringing the spoon to her mouth.

~MS~

They were making progress on the massive puzzle of the French countryside. Elizabeth worked on the right side of the picture while Henry focused on the left. They were secretly trying to beat each other on finishing their half.

"So she's not opening up at all under interrogation?" Elizabeth asked as she tried to find the correct spot for the piece in her hand.

"She's too traumatized. I think working with a translator is holding us back." Henry answered.

"Well you have to establish trust first." She said, finally finding the right place for the piece.

They worked in a minute of silence before Elizabeth went on. "If Disah is in Islamabad…" She trailed off.

"I know, it doesn't look good for Pakistan." Henry commented, already knowing where she was going with her statement.

"Harboring our number one enemy? Right after we talked them down from a war with India?" Elizabeth replied in disbelief.

"How did you guys do that anyway? Oh, never mind. I hit my security clearance." Henry said, still focused on the puzzle.

Elizabeth sat back on her knees with a sigh, realizing their mistake. "Henry." She called. He looked back over his shoulder at his wife. He frowned seeing the worry on her face. "We're doing it again."

Henry let out a breath." We are aren't we?" He asked, not even realizing that their conversation had drifted to work.

"Dr. Sherman's right. We are letting things take over. I can't even go an hour without talking shop!" Elizabeth rose her voice, waving her arms around a bit in frustration.

"Babe, it's gonna take some getting used to. This won't happen overnight." Henry told her. She threw him an unbelieving glance. He swiftly moved behind her and began kneading her shoulders. "Tell you what, tonight let's just focus on relaxing that intelligent mind of yours."

"I could say the same thing for you professor." She joked. He laughed before removing his hands from her overly tight muscles and moved to the left, so he was able to face her.

"We've got ten minutes left for the puzzle, so let's turn all thoughts of work off, and focus on that. And then after we're done how about I draw you a bath?" He suggested, knowing she loved a good soak in the tub.

"Only if you promise to join me." She whispered. Her husband chuckled which in turn caused her to do the same.

Through their laugher they seemed to miss the footsteps on the front staircase. The sound of their eldest daughter's voice startled them. "What's with the puzzles?" Stevie asked.

Both Elizabeth and Henry turned towards the staircase. They were met with the sight of their two daughters standing side. Ally had a bowl of popcorn in her hands; they were most likely on their way to watch something in the family room. "Excuse me?" Elizabeth questioned, not hearing what was asked.

"We've seen you guys working on this all week, and were wondering what's the deal with the puzzle?" Stevie repeated as she popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

That one question seemed to take Elizabeth back years ago.

~2003~

She turned with a huff to face her husband. She nearly gasped, surprised to see his eyes open; she thought he was asleep. "Oh god, did I wake you?" She asked, already feeling guilty.

"No. I can't sleep either." He answered, propping himself up with his elbow. Elizabeth turned to lay on her back. "I've been staring at the ceiling for nearly two hours." She admitted.

"You need to relax." Henry told her, acting as if that was the easiest thing in the world for her to do.

"I could tell you the same thing." Elizabeth replied, turning her head to the right.

"I'll sleep once you do." He said. She sighed feeling bad that she was keeping him awake. They both needed to be up by six am, and it was… She turned her head to glance at the bedside table clock. It was already twelve forty three in the morning.

"I can't do this. I'm gonna go run." She declared, sitting up. Henry followed suit. "You can't. You'll never sleep if you do." He fought.

She knew he was right; she could never settle down after the rush of running. But she was already out of bed tying back her hair. "Then so be it." She replied, accepting she wasn't going to sleep tonight.

Before she knew it Henry was in front of her. "Come with me." He demanded, leading her from their bedroom by grabbing her by the hand.

He dragged her downstairs and into the kitchen. He dropped her hand, and swiftly left the room. "Henry." Elizabeth complained, confused why he had just left with no explanation. She was getting ready to find out where he had gotten to when he reappeared. He walked through the doorway, making a beeline to the kitchen island. Elizabeth watched on in confusion as he opened the small box in his hand, and shook out its contents onto the countertop. "A puzzle? Really? Henry I spend all day trying to put pieces together… I have no interest in playing this silly game when I'm at home."

"Just try it!" He rose his voice. She was shocked by his tone. He could see the surprise on her face, and instantly softened. "Look, I'm going to set a timer for an hour. In exactly sixty minutes you can do whatever you want, but right now you focus on this puzzle." He commanded before sitting down on one of the barstools and beginning to work on the puzzle. Elizabeth stared at him for a moment before realizing he was serious. She followed his lead and started sorting the pieces.

They worked in silence for quite a while, neither knowing what to say until Henry finally found his voice. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He asked, still staring down at the counter. She didn't answer, so he pushed further. "What's going on in Iraq?"

She shook her head slowly and sighed. "You know I can't tell you that." She said barely above a whisper.

He looked up at her, meeting her gaze. "Don't tell me the facts. Tell me how you're feeling." He demanded. She broke away from his piercing glare, unable to meet his eyes. Elizabeth bit her lip, and continued on with the puzzle leaving Henry's question unanswered.

"Okay, let's talk about something else." Henry said once she didn't reply. His first thought went to the kids. "Janie said Jason read her the whole The Very Hungry Caterpillar book today." He informed her before laughing. "She's convinced he's going to be a genius." He added which caused his wife to smile.

"Well he does have two very brilliant individuals as his parents." She joked. Henry smiled.

"Oh I forgot to show you this." Her husband announced before moving from his chair over to the fridge. He unclipped a piece of paper from a magnet before walking the few steps to Elizabeth and handing it over to her.

Elizabeth smiled. It was obviously a drawing of their family. Each person had their name written clearly above their head. She loved it, and it seemed that her nine year old was quite the artist. It was perfect. "Stevie drew this at school today. She made me promise to show you when you got home." Henry told her.

Elizabeth's eyes slipped shut hearing his words. 'Promise to show you.' She repeated in her head. Henry had to show her the drawing rather than her daughter because she wasn't here. "I should be here." Elizabeth muttered.

"What?" He questioned, missing what she had mumbled, but Elizabeth moved on to a different topic. "I saw what you did with Jason." She admitted.

She stared at him from across the island. His eyebrows were knitted in confusion at her remark. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw him… Saw him in his crib. You gave him one of my shirts." She told him. She had peeked in on her sleeping son after returning home. Just like she always does when she arrives home after her kids are in bed. And as of recently that's been almost every night.

"I was having a hard time putting him down. And I gave him the shirt you slept in the night before; Your scent calms him babe." He explained. He didn't understand what the problem was.

"He wouldn't need my shirt if I was here." She responded letting her head fall into her hands.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Henry asked. She looked up at him, a few tears making their way down her cheeks.

"No. Yes. I… I… I'm overwhelmed!" She shouted. "I haven't seen our kids Henry. I miss them, and I miss you. My caseload is insane right now… actually not just of recently." She corrected herself.

Elizabeth picked up a single puzzle piece, and held it up in front of her face, staring at it. "It's like I'm constantly searching for that last puzzle piece… only to find out it doesn't exist." She said staring ahead. "We've been nonstop since 9/11." She admitted, speaking for the whole company.

"Babe that was two years ago." Henry whispered, horrified that his wife has been feeling this way.

"And it won't be any different until we apprehend Bin Laden." She uttered.

~present~

The couple went on to complete a small puzzle each night for a few years. The habit dwindled off sometime when they were both teaching at UVA. They both felt they didn't need to rely on the activity to talk to one another being as their marriage and communication with each other was in a great place.

After their therapy session with Dr. Sherman the previous weekend, Elizabeth and Henry both agreed to pick up the 'putting together a puzzle' strategy. It helped them to reconnect once before; they hoped for the same results this time around.

"Well we used to do this when you guys were little and back when I was in the CIA. It helps us unwind and transition from work to home." Elizabeth answered Stevie's question.

"We set aside a specific time and we stick to it." Henry added, looking at his daughters.

Stevie smiled at their answer. "Well we were just going to see if you guys wanted to watch President Dalton's speech with us." Allison told them.

Henry and Elizabeth shared a glance before Henry looked at his watch and said, "Nope we've still got six minutes left."

"Come in when you're done." Stevie called over her shoulder as her and her sister disappeared from the room.

The pair finished their six minutes, talking about the kids as they placed a few pieces in their correct spots.

"Do you want to join the girls?" Henry asked after standing up. He offered out a hand to his wife who accepted. Henry heaved her up from the ground, bringing them face to face.

She ran the idea of watching Conrad's speech with her daughters through her mind. But the decision was an easy one. She'd never be able to turn off her mind if she tuned into the television. Plus she already knew what POTUS was going to say.

"No I wanna spend some more time with you." She answered sweetly, placing a hand on his chest.

"What do you suggest?" He asked, flirting with her. She pretended to think about it before replying, "I remember you promising to join me in the bath."

AN: This is kind of all over the place, but I hope you enjoyed! And quick question. I've been driving myself nuts trying to find the episode where Henry gives Elizabeth the watch that looks like the one her father had. I don't know If I'm completely making this up or what, but if you know what episode this is please let me know.


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